Apparatus for preparing bandages



Patented Mar. 29, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE Robert Ray Boyer, St.John, New Brunswick, Canada Application November 28, 1936, Serial No.113,269 In Canada December 14, 1935 2 Claims.

This invention relates to means for preparing bandages and particularlyto means whereby, as a bandage is rolled upon a spindle, a powdered orfinely comminuted material may be sprinkled uniformly over the face ofthe bandage.

Another object is to provide a structure of this character in which thesprinkling of the powdered material on the bandage is regulated inaccordance with the speed of movement of the bandage to thus secure atall times a uniform distribution of the powdered material on thebandage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of thischaracter in which bandages of various widths may be treated and inwhich the amount of powder discharged from the hopper of the machinewill be in accordance with the Width of the bandage.

A still further object is to provide a mechanism of this character soconstructed that excess powder sifting through the bandage or falling oneither side thereof may be recovered.

Still another object is to provide in a bandage treating mechanism, ahopper having at its lower end a finely perforated or reticulatedscreen, provide means for drawing a bandage off one roll and re-rollingthe bandage, and means operated by the bandage withdrawing means, actingto uniformly jar the screen to cause the discharge of powder through thescreen onto the bandage.

Still another object is to provide a mechanism of this character whichmay be conveniently used in hospitals for the immediate preparation ofbandages of any required length or width, as may be found necessary inan emergency.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation of my bandage treating machine, part of thetrough being broken away.

Figure 2 is an end elevation thereof, the pawl engaging springs beingomitted.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the lower endof the hopper showing means for yieldingly supporting the screen.

Figure 4 is a top view of the screen frame and screen with the screenarea reducing plate partially inserted.

Referring to the drawing, l designates a trough-shaped base portion, oneend of which is formed for the support of a roll ll of bandage material.This roll may be held at this end of the trough by any suitable meansand is either supported in the trough for free unrolling or the roll ofbandages may be mounted upon a spindle I2. A partition [3 extends upwardfrom the bottom of the trough more or less adjacent to that end of thetrough which supports the bandage roll II, this partition acting toprevent a free bandage roll from rolling out from this end of thetrough. This trough is shown as supported upon legs l4. Extending upwardfrom the side walls of the trough are the uprights i5 connected to eachother at I6 by transverse bars and connected at their upper ends bylongitudinal bars l1, these bars l5, l6 and H constituting a supportingframe.

Mounted in any suitable manner upon the upper end of this supportingframe is a hopper l8 and disposed beneath the lower end of this hopperis a rectangular frame 19 carrying a screen 20 of finely perforated orreticulated material. A slide 2| is adapted to be received within theframe [9 and to be shifted to more or less cover the screen 20. Thescreen supporting frame i9 is mounted upon the hopper by means ofresilient straps 22, these straps permitting the screen to be oscillatedrelative to the hopper.

For the purpose of oscillating this screen, I mount upon the framemembers H and in suitable bearings a transverse shaft 23 carrying uponit at one end the pulley Z4 and also carrying upon it a pair of ratchetwheels 25. Pivotally mounted on a transverse shaft 26 are a pair ofhammers in the form of levers and designated 21. Each of thesehammer-like levers is outwardly curved at its upper end and projectsinto the path of movement of the teeth of a corresponding ratchet wheel.The lower end of each lever 21 is formed with a head 28 which isprojected against the screen frame l9 by means of a coiled contractilespring 29 mounted at one end upon the hopper supporting frame in anysuitable position and at the other end connected to the upper end of acorresponding lever 21. Preferably the teeth of the ratchet wheels arein staggered relation to each other and thus as the shaft 23 is rotated,the hammer levers 21. will be oscillated and will intermittently strikeagainst the screen supporting frame Hi to thus rapidly vibrate oroscillate this frame and cause the sifting of powder in the hopperdownward 5 through the perforations of the screen onto the bandage.

The bandage material is withdrawn from the bandage roll H and carriedacross beneath the hopper by means of a spindle 30 rotatably mount- I edupon a bracket 3| carried upon the side wall of the trough In. Thisspindle is formed with a longitudinal slot 30 which extendsdiametrically across the spindle so that one end of the bandage materialfrom the roll I I may be inserted in this slot and then the bandagematerial rerolled upon the spindle 30, this bandage material, after itleaves the roll ll, passing over a roller 32 so that the bandage orgauze will be supported in more or less of a horizontal plane.

Any desired means may be used for rotating the spindle 30 but I haveshown for this purpose a crank handle 33 mounted upon the spindle and Ihave also shown, for the purpose of driving the shaft 23, a pulley 34mounted upon the spindle, and I have also shown a band 35 extendingaround the pulley 34 and around the pulley 24. This construction isimportant as by driving the shaft 23 at a speed corresponding to that ofthe spindle 30, the discharge of powdered material from the hoppercorresponds with the speed with which the gauze or bandage material iswithdrawn from the roll H and rewound. Thus, whether the bandage israpidly withdrawn and rerolled or slowly withdrawn and re-rolled,approximately the same amount of material will be discharged onto theface of the bandage. By this construction, I prevent the powderedmaterial from being thicker in some places than in others, which wouldbe very undesirable.

In order that no powdered material which may sift through the bandage orbe discharged on either side thereof shall be lost, I provide a drawer36 mounted in guides beneath the trough 33, the trough having an opening31 immediately above the drawer. Thus the powder Which may collectwithin the drawer 36 may be discharged into, the hopper for re-use.

The operation of this mechanism will be obvious from what has gonebefore. The fresh bandage in its rolled condition is placed within theend of the trough and the bandage passed over the roll 32 and the end ofthe bandage inserted in the slit 3|. As the bandage is being re-rolledupon the spindle 30, the ratchet wheels will rotate and will cause thehammers 21 to intermittently strike against the screen supporting frame,jarring this frame and agitating the powdered material upon the screenso that it will sift downward through the screen uniformly onto thetraveling bandage.

The machine will be constructed so as to receive and treat a bandage ofmaximum width, but it will be seen, of course, that bandages of anydesired width below this maximum may be covered with powder and that byadjusting the plate 2| over the screen 20, the area of the screen may belimited to correspond with the width of the bandage being treated. Thismechanism is particularly suitable for sprinkling plaster of Paris uponbandages which are designed to be used for casts in hospitals, and it isobvious that any desired length of bandage may be'unrolled upon the rollll, powdered and then cut off, so that thus the material is suitable fortreating either short lengths or long lengths of bandages.

While I have illustrated the supporting frame for the hopper and thetrough as being open, yet if desired, the entire mechanism may beentirely enclosed so as to prevent any possible contamination of thebandage by unsterile matter. Obviously the bandages may be powdered withany antiseptic material as well as with plaster of Paris.

This device entirely obviates the usual slow and tedious preparation ofbandages by hand and furthermore, inasmuch as the bandages are nottouched by the hand until they are entirely prepared, the inner face ofthe bandage is not likely to become contaminated or rendered septic.

What is claimed is:-

1. Mechanism of the character described, comprising a supporting frame,a trough, having a bandage roll supporting compartment at one end, ahopper carried by said frame and discharging toward the trough, a finelyperforated screen forming the lower end of the hopper, a spindle mountedupon the frame above the opposite end of the trough from saidcompartment and having means whereby it maybe manually rotated andhaving means whereby one end of the roll of bandage material may besupported within the trough and may be engaged for winding upon thespindle, means for agitating the screen to thereby discharge powderedmaterial from the hopper onto the moving bandage, rotatable means foroperating said screen agitating means, the rotatable means beingoperatively connected with the spindle and driven thereby whereby thepowdered material is discharged onto the bandage uniformly in accordancewith the speed of movement of the bandage.

2. A mechanism of the character described, including a supporting frame,a hopper mounted upon the frame, a screen carried by the lower end ofthe hopper, a trough carried by the frame and extending beneath thehopper, the trough at one end having an end wall and an adjacentupstanding partition wall defining a compartment within which a roll ofbandages may rest, a spindle mounted on the frame above the opposite endof the trough, the spindle having a single bearing and beinglongitudinally split to receive one end of the bandage and withdraw itfrom the roll and re-roll it to thus cause the bandage to travel acrossthe trough beneath the screen, means driven by the spindle forconstantly and uniformly agitating the screen to thus cause the uniformdischarge of powdered material onto the traveling bandage, the troughhaving an opening immediately below the screen, and a receptacleremovably mounted upon the trough below said opening whereby to catchpowdered material sifting through or past the bandage being treated.

ROBERT RAY BOYER.

